University Park, PA -- From 1942 until his retirement in 1977, Robert S. Beese served as photographer for the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State. "Robert S. Beese, a retrospective" provides a selection of images from the larger collection of Beese photographs that were donated to Penn State University Archives in 1998. The show will be on display in the main exhibit area of Pattee Library August 29 through October 31, 2003.

Beese also advised the Penn State Camera Club and was active with the Color Slide Club. He spoke highly of his position at Penn State. "Where else would I have had such excellent equipment, wonderful settings, interesting subject matter, and all the creative freedom I wanted," he said.

Beese began his photographic career while growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was an active member of his high school's camera club, and even set up a dark room in his parent's basement, equipped with an enlarger he made himself. Shortly after graduation, he began an apprenticeship with a local photographer who encouraged him to enroll in a top photographic school.

Beese enrolled at the Clarence White School of Photography in New York City, where he studied under the likes of Ansel Adams. His classmates included renowned photographers Dorothea Lange and Margaret Bourke-White. Beese also studied at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee, and the Winowa and Leica schools of photography, both in Winowa, Indiana.

The collection of Beese's work in Penn State's archives includes many photographs of cityscapes, particularly of New York City; landscapes; and scenes of nature. Beese's work has received many honors, and his pictures are often seen around campus and in University publications. He is listed in Who's Who in Color Slide Photography, and has been a member of the Professional Photographers Association of America, the Photographic Society of America, and the University Photographers Association.

For more information about the exhibit, contact Public Relations and Marketing, University Libraries, at 814-865-0401.

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Editor's Contact:
Catherine Grigor, 814-865-0401